Tag Archives: funeral

Pope Benedict XVI funeral: Pope Francis leads Vatican ceremony for former pontiff

January 5, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Rome
CNN
—

The funeral of former Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday at the age of 95, began Thursday in a traditional ceremony led by Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City.

In line with Benedict’s wishes, his funeral will be “simple,” according to the director of the press office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni. It will be the first occasion in modern times a pope has presided over his predecessor’s funeral.

Members of the faithful have lined the square, which can seat approximately 60,000 people, in anticipation of the ceremony.

The ceremony will be similar to that of a reigning pope but there will be some modifications, Bruni said. Benedict will be named pope emeritus during the funeral, and the language of some prayers will be different because he was not the reigning pope when he died.

The faithful prayed to the rosary as Benedict’s coffin left St. Peter’s Basilica at around 8:45 a.m. local time (2.45 a.m. ET) Thursday.

Francis started leading the mass Thursday morning, when he is expected to give a homily at 10 a.m. local time (4 a.m. ET).

Benedict’s coffin will then be transported through the Basilica and to the Vatican crypt for the burial, in the first tomb of John Paul II.

The tomb was vacated after John Paul II’s body and remains were moved to a chapel inside the Basilica after he became a saint.

At the time of the burial during the rite, a webbing will be placed around the coffin with the seals of the apostolic chamber, the pontifical house and liturgical celebrations. The cypress coffin will be placed inside a zinc coffin that is soldered and sealed, and subsequently placed inside a wooden coffin, which will be buried.

The ceremony is expected to end at around 11:15 a.m. local time (5.15 a.m. ET).

High-profile dignitaries including Queen Sofia of Spain and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz are set to attend the funeral, alongside US Ambassador to the Holy See Joe Donelly.

Benedict, who was the first pontiff in almost 600 years to resign his position, rather than hold office for life, passed away on December 31 at a monastery in Vatican City, according to a statement from the Vatican.

He was elected pope in April 2005, following John Paul II’s death.

Benedict was known to be more conservative than his successor, Pope Francis, who has made moves to soften the Vatican’s position on abortion and homosexuality, as well as doing more to deal with the sexual abuse crisis that has engulfed the church in recent years and clouded Benedict’s legacy.

The scroll that was put inside Pope Benedict XVI’s coffin, which is a biography of his life and mentions some of the most important moments of his tenure, recalls that he “firmly” fought against pedophilia.

“He firmly fought against crimes committed by members of the clergy against minors or vulnerable persons, continually calling the Church to conversion, prayer, penance and purification,” the scroll said.

His death prompted tributes from political and religious leaders including US President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and the Dalai Lama.

About 200,000 mourners, including Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and President Sergio Mattarella, paid their respects to the former pontiff earlier this week during his lying-in-state in St. Peter’s Basilica.

The public viewing of Benedict finished Wednesday, before an intimate religious rite during which items including coins and medals minted over his tenure and a scroll about the pontificate were placed into his sealed cypress coffin ahead of the funeral.

Francis paid tribute to his predecessor during an audience at the Vatican Wednesday.

“I would like us to join with those here beside us who are paying their respects to Benedict XVI, and to turn my thoughts to him, a great master of catechesis,” he said.

“May he help us rediscover in Christ the joy of believing and the hope of living.”

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Sports

Pelé: Funeral procession begins after 24-hour wake

January 3, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

CNN
—

A funeral procession which will take soccer great Pelé to his final resting place has begun Tuesday.

The procession started at the Urbano Caldeira Stadium, home of Pelé’s former club Santos, and his coffin will be carried through the streets of the city of Santos, including passing down the street where Pelé’s 100-year-old mother, Celeste Arantes, lives.

It will continue to the Memorial Necrópole Ecumênica cemetery, where a private funeral will be held for family members.

The three-time World Cup winner died on Thursday at the age of 82 from multiple organ failure due to the progression of colon cancer.

Tributes from around the world have poured in ever since, with people of all ages flocking to his 24-hour public wake, which began on Monday at Santos’ 16,000-seater stadium, popularly known as “Vila Belmiro.”

More than 230,000 people, many wearing Brazil’s iconic yellow jersey, had attended the wake, according to Santos.

The doors to the stadium closed with thousands of mourners still in line and people were turned away, according to CNN teams on the ground.

Thousands have lined the streets, waving flags and applauding as the Brazilian’s coffin passed by.

Pelé’s sister, Lucia, was seen tearfully waving from a balcony at crowds who had gathered outside her mother’s house.

Brazilian president Lula da Silva arrived at the wake on Tuesday morning with police security “very much” reinforced to accommodate the President’s presence, Santos told CNN.

“Pele is incomparable, as a soccer player and as a human being,” Lula said Tuesday, per Reuters.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino also traveled to Brazil to pay his respects on Monday.

“Pelé is eternal,” Infantino told reporters, per Reuters. “FIFA will certainly honor the ‘king’ as he deserves.

“We have asked all football associations in the world to pay a minute of silence before every game and will also ask them, 211 countries, to name a stadium after Pelé. Future generations must know and remember who Pelé was.”

For more than 60 years, the name Pelé has been synonymous with football. He played in four World Cups and is the only player in history to win three, but his legacy stretched far beyond his trophy haul and remarkable goalscoring record.

“I was born to play football, just like Beethoven was born to write music and Michelangelo was born to paint,” Pelé famously said.

Pelé, born Edson Arantes do Nascimento, is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history and Brazil held three days of national mourning following his death.

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World

Former Pope Benedict XVI lies in state in St Peter’s Basilica ahead of funeral

January 2, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

Rome
CNN
—

The lying-in-state of former Pope Benedict XVI, who died Saturday at the age of 95, began Monday in St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City ahead of his funeral later this week.

He was elected Pope in April 2005, following John Paul II’s death.

The former Pope’s body was moved from the monastery to St. Peter’s Basilica on Monday morning, where it was laid out for the faithful to bid farewell, the Vatican said.

Mourners waiting in line in St. Peter’s Square told CNN they wanted to pay their respects to the former pope.

“We’re just here to pray, to give thanks to God for the life of Pope Benedict,” said Paul, a student from Scotland.

“Apart from his theology, which was very important for the Church, I think all the time that he spent in his retirement praying for the Church has been a very big testimony for all of us.”

Benedict’s funeral will be held at 9:30 a.m. local time (3:30 a.m. ET) on Thursday in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City, according to the director of the press office of the Holy See, Matteo Bruni. The funeral will be led by Pope Francis. In line with Benedict’s wishes, his funeral will be “simple,” Bruni said.

Francis paid tribute to his predecessor while leading the Angelus prayer on Sunday.

“In particular, this salute is to the Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who yesterday morning passed away. We salute him as a faithful servant of the gospel,” he said.

He stunned the Catholic faithful and religious experts around the world in 2013 when he announced plans to step down from his position as Pope, citing his “advanced age.”

In his farewell address, the outgoing Pope promised to stay “hidden” from the world, but he continued to speak out on religious matters in the years following his retirement, contributing to tensions within the Catholic Church.

His death prompted tributes from political and religious leaders including US President Joe Biden, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and the Dalai Lama.

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World

Benedict’s funeral to bring ‘two popes’ era to a complicated close

January 1, 2023 Admin Leave a comment

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VATICAN CITY — One of the most atypical chapters in modern Catholic history began on March 13, 2013, when a just-elected Pope Francis, appearing on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, offered a prayer for his still-living predecessor, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

It culminated Saturday, nearly a decade later, when Benedict died at a monastery inside the Vatican: Francis was the first to rush over to see the body, a Holy See spokesman told The Washington Post.

But the delicate dance between the two popes — one current, one former — isn’t over yet, at least not entirely. That’s because Francis, in the final act of a relationship that was outwardly warm but often awkward, will be the one to frame the period of remembrance and mourning.

On Thursday, he’ll preside over Benedict’s funeral.

What will Pope Benedict’s funeral look like? Pope Francis will preside.

This precedent-setting week will be watched to see how fully Benedict is given the passages that would normally be afforded a sitting pope. Initial indications suggest that his funeral will have less pomp than the 2005 mass-scale ceremony for John Paul II. In this case, the Vatican said only two formal delegations will be attending, from Italy and from Benedict’s native Germany. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the funeral would be “simple.”

Also crucial is how Francis — for this first time in his pontificate, the only Vatican figure dressed in white — will speak about his predecessor. So far, in prayers on Saturday evening and Sunday, he has addressed Benedict’s death only in passing, calling him “noble” and “kind.” Francis has otherwise proceeded as normal with the Vatican’s New Year’s festivities. On Saturday, in a wheelchair, he waved to adoring supporters as he was pushed through St. Peter’s Square.

Marco Politi, a Francis biographer, predicted that the pope would manage this week with “diplomacy” and search for ways to show the common ground between himself and Benedict.

“This is a way for him to neutralize the enemies of his papacy,” Politi said.

How Benedict’s death could reshape the Catholic Church

Politi said that within the church, “there’s a sense of relief, because this silent contrast between two figures and two visions of the church is now over.”

Benedict broke centuries of tradition in which popes served until death, and the need to coexist with his predecessor has been a defining aspect of Francis’s tenure, coinciding with a period of growing polarization within the faith.

For traditionalists, Benedict became a symbol of opposition. Conservative figures in the church would seek audiences with him. Far-right politicians would quote him — or John Paul II — instead of Francis.

Intrigue about their relationship has been so intense that it even inspired a movie, “The Two Popes,” which imagined the two verbally sparring, and ultimately enjoying one another, in a period before Benedict’s abdication.

In real life, Benedict showed deference to Francis and said there was only one authority figure at the top. Francis, in turn, regularly touted Benedict’s spirit and “intellectual insight.” After ceremonies to induct new cardinals, Francis would routinely lead them to greet Benedict, who lived in a monastery tucked behind St. Peter’s Basilica.

What ‘The Two Popes’ misses about Francis and Benedict’s relationship

But it sometimes proved treacherous having a retired pope — particularly one who lived so close to Francis and who chose to continue dressing in white. Benedict didn’t completely abide by his pledge to stay “hidden from the world,” causing maelstroms when he interjected himself into church affairs.

In 2019, he wrote a lengthy letter about sexual abuse, linking some of the church’s problems to the 1960s sexual revolution, a diagnosis that conflicted with Francis’s own theories about the root causes.

Ex-Pope Benedict contradicts Pope Francis in unusual intervention on sexual abuse

A year later, Benedict offered a defense of clerical celibacy, just as Francis was weighing a move to allow the ordination of married men in the Amazon to offset a dire priest shortage. Benedict later said there had been a “misunderstanding” with the co-author of the book where his remarks had appeared. Some church watchers speculated that the ex-pope risked being manipulated as he grew more frail.

Often Benedict’s and Francis’s stances were not so far apart; both have upheld church teaching on sexuality, for instance. But their philosophical differences were so pronounced that they seemed to represent opposite poles. Benedict, as pope, focused on upholding the eternal teachings of the faith, even if it meant a smaller church of ardent believers. Francis, by contrast, has traveled to countries with little Catholic presence, emphasized dialogue with Islam, and harnessed issues such as climate change and migration — areas that traditionalists say have little to do with the faith.

Pope Benedict, in retired seclusion, looms in the opposition to Pope Francis

While popes are always compared to their predecessors, it was wholly novel to have two living men with experience as the religion’s top moral and spiritual authority.

Even in St. Peter’s Square on Saturday, in the hours after Benedict’s death, people spoke about him in contrast to Francis.

Andrea Versace, 23, visiting Rome from the northern region of Veneto, described Benedict as “cold and detached,” as opposed to Francis, whom she sees as “more humble.”

Benedict’s death will have ripple effects for Francis. Some church watchers hope that he draws up formal rules that guide any future pontiff’s retirement — potentially requiring him to live outside the Vatican and revert to his given name. Such rules would have been awkward to create when Pope Benedict was still alive.

Francis, in past interviews, has said he views Benedict’s resignation as a precedent — something he would consider doing as well, should his health falter. For now, Francis has knee pain and struggles to walk. But he keeps a busy schedule.

Is Pope Francis nearing the end of his pontificate?

Francis, for his part, has said that he would be known as the bishop emeritus of Rome were he to step down. He said he would “surely not” stay in the Vatican.

In an interview last year with two Mexican journalists, Francis said that the first experience with a sitting pope and an ex-pope “went quite well,” because Benedict was “a holy and discreet man, and he knew how to do it well.”

“But for the future,” Francis said, “it’s appropriate to explain things better.”

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World

Chinese hospitals, funeral homes ‘extremely busy’ as COVID spreads unchecked

December 28, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Hospitals, funeral parlours report surge in COVID infections
China reports three new COVID deaths for Tuesday
Some countries consider travel rules for Chinese visitors

CHENGDU, Dec 28 (Reuters) – Chinese hospitals and funeral homes were under intense pressure on Wednesday as a surging COVID-19 wave drained resources, while the scale of the outbreak and doubts over official data prompted some countries to consider new travel rules on Chinese visitors.

In an abrupt change of policy, China this month began dismantling the world’s strictest COVID regime of lockdowns and extensive testing, putting its battered economy on course for a complete re-opening next year.

The lifting of restrictions, which came after widespread protests against them, means COVID is spreading largely unchecked and likely infecting millions of people a day, according to some international health experts.

The speed at which China, the last major country in the world moving towards treating the virus as endemic, has scrapped COVID rules has left its fragile health system overwhelmed.

China reported three new COVID-related deaths for Tuesday, up from one for Monday – numbers that are inconsistent with what funeral parlours are reporting, as well as with the experience of much less populous countries after they re-opened.

Staff at Huaxi, a big hospital in the southwestern city of Chengdu, said they were “extremely busy” caring for COVID patients.

“I’ve been doing this job for 30 years and this is the busiest I have ever known it,” said one ambulance driver outside the hospital who declined to be identified.

There were long queues inside and outside the hospital’s emergency department and at an adjacent fever clinic on Tuesday evening. Most of those arriving in ambulances were given oxygen to help with their breathing.

“Almost all of the patients have COVID,” one emergency department pharmacy staff member said.

The hospital has no stocks of COVID-specific medicine and can only provide drugs for symptoms such as coughing, she said.

Car parks around the Dongjiao funeral home, one of the biggest in Chengdu, were full. Funeral processions were constant as smoke billowed from the crematorium.

“We have to do this about 200 times a day now,” said one funerals worker. “We are so busy we don’t even have time to eat. This has been the case since the opening up. Before it was around 30-50 a day.”

“Many have died from COVID,” said another worker.

At another Chengdu crematorium, privately-owned Nanling, staff were equally busy.

“There have been so many deaths from COVID lately,” one worker said. “Cremation slots are all fully booked. You can’t get one until the new year, maybe Jan. 3 at the earliest.”

China has said it only counts deaths of COVID patients caused by pneumonia and respiratory failure as COVID-related.

Zhang Yuhua, an official at the Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, said most recent patients were elderly and critically ill with underlying diseases. She said the number of patients receiving emergency care had increased to 450-550 per day, from about 100 before, according to state media.

The China-Japan Friendship Hospital’s fever clinic in Beijing was also “packed” with gray-haired patients, state media reported.

Nurses and doctors have been asked to work while sick and retired medical workers in rural communities were being rehired to help. Some cities have been struggling to secure supplies of anti-fever drugs.

TRAVEL RULES

In a major step towards freer travel, China will stop requiring inbound travellers to go into quarantine from Jan. 8, authorities said this week, prompting many Chinese, cut off from the world for so long, to check travel platforms.

But while online searches for flights spiked on Tuesday from extremely low levels, residents and travel agencies suggested a return to anything like normal would take some months yet, as caution prevails for now.

Moreover, some governments were considering extra travel requirements for Chinese visitors.

U.S. officials cited “the lack of transparent data” as reasons for doing so.

India and Japan would require a negative COVID test for travellers from mainland China, with those testing positive in Japan having to undergo a week in quarantine. Tokyo also plans to limit airlines increasing flights to China.

The Philippines was also considering imposing tests”.

ECONOMIC PAIN

China’s $17 trillion economy is expected to suffer a slowdown in factory output and domestic consumption as workers and shoppers fall ill.

News of re-opening borders sent global luxury stocks higher, but the reaction was more muted in other corners of the market.

U.S. carmaker Tesla (TSLA.O) plans to run a reduced production schedule at its Shanghai plant in January, according to an internal schedule reviewed by Reuters. It did not specify a reason.

Once the initial shock of new infections passes, some economists expect Chinese growth to bounce back with a vengeance from what is this year expected to be its lowest rate in nearly half a century, somewhere around 3%.

Morgan Stanley economists expect 5.4% growth in 2023, while those at Goldman Sachs see 5.2%.

Reporting by Marting Quin Pollard in Chengdu, Chen Lin in Singapore and Shanghai and Beijing bureaus; Writing by Marius Zaharia; Editing by Lincoln Feast.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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World

Iranian protesters chant anti-regime slogans at boy’s funeral | Iran

November 18, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Protesters at the funeral of a young boy whose family say was killed by Iranian security forces have chanted anti-regime slogans and ridiculed the official account of his death.

Hundreds of mourners flocked to the city of Izeh in south-western Iran for the funeral of Kian Pirfalak, according to footage posted online.

His mother said at the funeral ceremony that Kian was shot on Wednesday by security forces, although Iranian officials insisted he was killed in a “terrorist” attack carried out by an extremist group.

“Hear it from me myself on how the shooting happened, so they can’t say it was by terrorists because they’re lying,” his mother told mourners, according to a video posted by the 1500tasvir activist Twitter account. “Maybe they thought we wanted to shoot or something and they peppered the car with bullets … Plainclothes forces shot my child. That is it.”

Ridiculing the official version of events, the protesters chanted: “Basij, Sepah – you are our Isis!” according to a video posted by the Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR). The Basij is a pro-government paramilitary force and Sepah is another name for Iran’s feared Revolutionary Guard. Isis is an alternative name for the extremist Islamic State group.

“Death to Khamenei,” they shouted in another video posted by 1500tasvir, referring to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Activists have put Kian’s age when he died at nine or 10.

Opposition media based outside Iran said another child, 14-year-old Sepehr Maghsoudi, was shot dead in similar circumstances in Izeh on Wednesday.

Funerals have repeatedly become flashpoints for protests in the movement that started after the death on 16 September of Mahsa Amini, who had been arrested by the Tehran morality police.

Iranian state television reported seven people had been buried, including a nine-year-old boy, saying they had been killed by “terrorists” on motorbikes.

Iranian mourners at a funeral in the city of Izeh, in Khuzestan province, on Friday. State TV said said seven people had been killed by ‘terrorists’ on motorbikes. Photograph: Alireza Mohammadi/isna/AFP/Getty Images

The Fars news agency, which is affiliated with the Guard, quoted the governor of Khuzestan province, Sadegh Khalilian, as saying that “foreign elements” were responsible.

“Kian Pirfalak, nine, and Sepehr Maghsoudi, 14, are among at least 56 kids killed by Iranian forces working to crush Iran’s 2022 Revolution,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the director of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran.

IHR also said anti-regime slogans were chanted at the funeral in the northern city of Tabriz for Aylar Haghi, a young medical student who activists say was killed in a fall from a building blamed on the security forces.

In a separate development, video clips showing showing the ancestral home of the late founder of the Islamic republic, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, on fire have been shared widely on social media, with activists saying it was torched by protesters.

Reuters verified the location of two video clips using the distinctive arches and buildings that match file images. The semi-official Tasnim news agency, however, denied Khomeini’s house was set on fire, saying a small number of people had gathered outside the house.

Social media videos show dozens of people cheering as a flash of fire is sparked in a building. Reuters could not independently verify the dates when the videos were filmed. 1500Tasvir said the incident occurred on Thursday evening in Khomeini’s birth town of Khomein, south of the capital, Tehran. The house had been converted into a museum.

“The report is a lie,” said the Tasnim news agency, adding: “The doors of the house of the late founder of the great revolution are open to the public.”

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Entertainment

Family, friends and fans gather at funeral for rock ‘n’ roll legend Jerry Lee Lewis on Saturday

November 5, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Family, friends and fans gathered Saturday to bid farewell to rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis at memorial services held in his north Louisiana hometown.

Lewis, known for hits such as ‘Great Balls of Fire’ and ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,’ died Oct. 28 at his Mississippi home, south of Memphis, Tenn. He was 87.

TV evangelist Jimmy Swaggart, Lewis’ cousin, told the more than 100 people inside Young’s Funeral Home in Ferriday, the town where Lewis was born, that when Lewis died he ‘lost the brother I never had.’

‘We learned to play piano together,’ Swaggart recalled. ‘I had to make myself realize that he was no longer here.’

Swaggart and Lewis released ‘The Boys From Ferriday,’ a gospel album, earlier this year and Swaggart said he wasn’t sure if Lewis was going to be able to get through the recording session.

‘He was very weak’: Televangelist Jimmy Swaggart speaks at the funeral service for his cousin, rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, in Ferriday, La. on Saturday, eight days after the singer’s death on October 28

Donna Hoffmann, third cousin to rock ‘n’ roll hall of famer Jerry Lee Lewis, views his casket covered in flowers and portraits before the start of his funeral service

Ronnie Lewis, son of rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, walks past his father’s casket before his funeral service, as flowers, portraits and memorable pictures were on display

Pallbearers carry Lewis’ casket into a white hearse following the singer’s funeral in his home town of Ferriday, which is right before the Louisiana-Mississippi border

Mourners gather outside Young’s Funeral Home following the end of proceedings at Lewis’ funeral on Saturday

Judith Brown, seventh wife of Lewis, wore an all-black outfit and shades as she was seen leaving her late husband’s funeral

Lewis was the last survivor of the rock ‘n’ roll generation that included Elvis, Little Richard and Chuck Berry

Lewis died last month, aged 87. He is pictured at the 47th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2005 at the Staples Center

‘He was very weak,’ Swaggart said. ‘I remember saying, “Lord, I don’t know if he can do it or not.” But when Jerry Lee sat at that piano, you know he was limited to what he could play because of the stroke, but when the engineer said the red light is on and when he opened his mouth, he said, ‘Jesus, hold my hand, I need thee every hour. Hear my feeble plea, oh Lord, look down on me.’

The session resulted in the album, and two of its songs played during the service: ‘In the Garden’ and ‘The Old Rugged Cross.’ Audience members were seen wiping tears from their eyes and singing along with Lewis as the recordings played.

‘He was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived,’ Swaggart said.

Lewis, who called himself ‘The Killer,’ was the last survivor of a generation of artists that rewrote music history, a group that included Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry and Little Richard.

Lewis’ body was at the front of the funeral home’s main parlor, inside a closed, red casket with a spray of red roses on top. Several funeral wreaths, including one in the form of a musical note, dotted the walls behind and around the casket as did photos of the singer, one of which showed him in a red suit hunched over and singing into a microphone.

Lewis died at his home in Nesbit, Mississippi, following a battle with pneumonia and a stroke suffered in 2019. He is pictured in the final photo taken before his death in Memphis

Jacob Tolliver greets others outside Young’s Funeral Home as family and friends gathered for Lewis’ final sendoff following proceedings inside

Mourners Carolyn Coghlan Gremillion and Bert Nokes gather with others outside Young’s Funeral Home after Lewis’ funeral

Left to right, Gabriel Swaggart, Eric Williams and Zach Farnum gather with others outside Young’s Funeral Home on Saturday

Mourners Jacob Tolliver, left, and Eric Williams were also in attendance as they celebrate Lewis’ life

Kenny Lovelace, who has performed with rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis since the 1960’s, walks outside after the funeral service for Lewis

Swaggart’s son, Donnie Swaggart, recalled a meeting in Memphis between Lewis and members of the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, a country rock band, that highlighted Lewis’ humorous side.

He said his father and Lewis were walking toward an arena’s exit as the band members were coming in.

‘As they neared Lewis, one asked, “Is that who I think it is? Is that Jerry Lee Lewis?” As Jerry Lee passed, one of the men asked, “Are you Jerry Lee Lewis?” Jerry Lee stopped and looked each of them up and down and said, “Boys, Killer’s my name and music’s my thing.” And then he walked out.’

Donnie Swaggart said the guys stood there, with their jaws dropped in amazement. ‘What a sense of humor he had,’ he said as the audience laughed.

After his personal life blew up in the late 1950s following news of his marriage to his cousin, 13-year-old — possibly even 12-year-old — Myra Gale Brown, while still married to his previous wife, the piano player and rock rebel was blacklisted from radio and his earnings dropped to virtually nothing. Over the following decades, Lewis struggled with drug and alcohol abuse, legal disputes and physical illness.

‘He always had a heart for God, even at his lowest times,’ Jimmy Swaggart said. ‘I will miss him very much but we know where he is now and thank God for that.’

People line up outside Young’s Funeral Home to view the casket of rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis before his funeral

Russell Lee Adams and Holly Carville sign the guestbook at the entrance to Lewis’ funeral service in Louisiana

Marcel Riesco, left, and Xochi Shirtz, of Nashville, wait in line outside Young’s Funeral Home to view Lewis’ casket

People sign the guestbook at the entrance to Young’s Funeral Home as they enter for the funeral service for rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis

Xavier Ellis, 28, a Ferriday native now teaching in Opelousas, La., said Lewis’ life is an inspiration.

‘He was a poor kid from Ferriday who made it to the heights he made it to. I’m very impressed with his life story. I’m saddened by him leaving, but his legacy will live on,’ Ellis said.

In the 1960s, Lewis reinvented himself as a country performer and the music industry eventually forgave him. He had a run of top 10 country hits from 1967 to 1970, including ‘She Still Comes Around’ and ‘What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me).’

In 1986, along with Elvis, Berry and others, Lewis was in the inaugural class of inductees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and joined the Country Hall of Fame this year. His life and music were reintroduced to younger fans in the 1989 biopic ‘Great Balls of Fire,’ starring Dennis Quaid, and Ethan Coen’s 2022 documentary ‘Trouble in Mind.’

A 2010 Broadway musical, ‘Million Dollar Quartet,’ was inspired by a recording session that featured Lewis, Elvis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

Jerry Lee Lewis sits for a picture at the Country Music Hall of Fame after it was announced he will be inducted as a member on May 17, 2022, in Nashville, Tenn.,

Lewis is pictured, furthest left, recording with Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and others at Sun Studios, Memphis, during the 1950s. The mic they sang into, pictured in the foreground, was auctioned in 2004

Brown is pictured with her former husband when she was 15. Lewis died while married to his seventh wife, Judith, who collected an award in his honor earlier this month

Lewis is pictured performing onstage at Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts on November 17, 2018 in Cerritos, Calif.

Lewis won a Grammy in 1987 as part of an interview album that was cited for best spoken word recording, and he received a lifetime achievement Grammy in 2005.

The following year, ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ was selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, whose board praised the ‘propulsive boogie piano that was perfectly complemented by the drive of J.M. Van Eaton’s energetic drumming. The listeners to the recording, like Lewis himself, had a hard time remaining seated during the performance.’

Tom Tomschin and his wife, Sandra, of Cicero, Ill., traveled to Ferriday to give homage to Lewis for all he’s done for the music industry.

‘We felt the need to pay our respect to the pioneer of rock ‘n’ roll who had a major part in the creation of and shaping of the genre,’ Tomschin said. ‘I’ve been a fan my entire life.’

The hearse carrying Lewis readies to depart the funeral home for burial after his funeral service

Fans wave farewell as the hearse carrying Lewis’ coffin departs the evangelical funeral home in Ferriday, Louisiana

Tomschin, 45, a government administrator, said ‘Crazy Arms’ and ‘You Win Again’ are two of his favorite songs by Lewis, who he described as one of a kind.

‘He never lived a life behind a curtain,’ Tomschin said of Lewis. ‘In his ups and downs, the good and bad, he did what he was going to do. Jerry Lee Lewis laid it all out on the table. There’s never going to be another person like Jerry Lee Lewis.’

Sandra Tomschin, 44, a library director, said she grew up on Lewis’ music and it’s left an indelible print on her life.

‘We love it,’ she said of his music. ‘We’ve been to several of his concerts and even though he’s gone, he will still live on in our hearts.’

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World

Shinzo Abe funeral: Japan holds controversial state funeral for assassinated leader

September 27, 2022 Admin Leave a comment

Tokyo
CNN
—

Japan bid farewell to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in an elaborate state funeral Tuesday, despite public opposition to the cost of the event as the country grapples with their late leader’s legacy.

Abe, Japan’s longest-serving prime minister, was shot dead during a campaign speech in Nara in July, stunning a nation where gun violence is extremely rare.

More than 4,300 guests attended the service at the Nippon Budokan Arena in Tokyo, including foreign dignitaries such as US Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Abe’s ashes were carried into the venue, where the government played a video tribute honoring his life and career. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida then delivered a memorial address, praising Abe’s “courage” and dedication.

Other government figures including former Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga – who was Abe’s right hand man for many years – also gave remarks, before attendees laid flower offerings and bowed in turn.

Other ceremonial rites on the program include an honor guard, gun salute, and musical performances, before a government reception for visiting foreign dignitaries.

Police ramped up security for the event, with public broadcaster NHK reporting that about 20,000 police officers were deployed to keep the peace. But altercations broke out anyway between police and demonstrators outside the funeral venue.